TIME's Board of Economists predicts slow job growth but no return to recession

The recession--if indeed we had one--appears to have ended in the first quarter, yet unemployment remains stalled at 6%, close to its eight-year high. The economy is growing, but the stock market isn't. The bubble in tech stocks has popped, but some are worried another is swelling in the housing market. It's been that kind of economy, where each hopeful portent comes wrapped in anxiety.

A catchphrase for the times is jobless recovery: national income is rising, but employment is not. That's not unusual immediately after a recession. Businesses are typically quicker to lay off workers than to hire them back....